WHAT  THE  CHURCH  HAS  DONE  FOR 
A CHINESE  LAYMAN  IN  HONOLULU 


c3ooi- 


What  the  Church  Has  Done  for  a Chinese 
Layman  in  Honolulu 


BY  YAP  SEE  YOUNG 


Introductory  Note  by  Bishop  Restarick 


Mr.  Yap  See  Youcg  is  one  of  the  wardens  of  St.  Peter’s  Chinese  Church,  Hono- 
lulu, and  a layman  who  is  interested  in  all  the  work  of  the  Church.  He  assists 
at  St.  Mary’s  Mission,  Moiliili,  where  the  Sunday  school  is  wholly  composed  of 
heathen  children. 

After  the  transfer  of  the  Church  in  Hawaii  to  American  jurisdiction,  Mr.  Yap 
See  Young  began  to  read  The  Spirit  of  Missions,  for  which  he  became  a subscriber, 
after  the  Eev.  Kong  Yiu  Tet  had  lent  him  a few  numbers.  Recently,  at  his  own 
suggestion,  he  obtained  four  new'  subscribers  among  the  Chinese  Christians. 

Some  time  ago,  I sent  to  the  Editor  of  the  magazine  a photograph  of  Mr.  Yap  See 
Young  and  his  family.  In  reply,  I received  a request  that  I ask  Mr.  Yap  Sec  Young 
to  write  a brief  account  of  his  life.  The  result  is  the  following  article,  written  by 
him  in  English,  revised  by  me  at  his  request,  but  changed  only  in  a few  places  where 
the  grammatical  construction  was  a little  obscure: 


IN  connection  with  the  photograph  I 
will  tell  you  some  history  of  myself 
and  family.  I arrived  in  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  from  Canton, 
China,  in  1880,  with  my  father.  This 


was  not  my  own  father,  but  one  of  our 
family  name  “Yap,”  who  adopted  me 
because  he  had  no  son  and  my  own 
father  was  poor.  When  I left  China 
I was  seven  years  old,  and  I can  remem- 


ber  that  I had  worked  for  my  board  by 
leading  a cow  to  pasture  and  taking 
care  of  it.  My  own  father  was  a 
heathen,  but  my  adopted  father  was  a 
Christian,  who  had  been  connected  with 
tlie  Basel  Mission.  In  1S81  I was  bap- 
tized in  Honolulu,  by  the  Bev.  Mr. 
Damon,  a Congregational  minister. 
There  was  no  Anglican  mission  for  Chi- 
nese here  in  those  days. 

I went  to  the  Island  of  Hawaii  the 
same  year  with  my  father,  who  was  a 
Chinese  doctor  of  the  old  kind.  We 
went  to  the  district  of  Kohala,  and  for 
two  years  I attended  a Roman  Catholic 
school  at  Halawa,  this  being  the  only 
school  in  the  neighborhood  where  Eng- 
lish was  taught.  The  instruction  in  the 
public  school  near  by  was  in  Hawaiian 
in  those  days.  Having  no  mother  with 
me,  I had  to  wash  my  own  clothes  and 
keep  myself  clean.  Soon  after  I came 
to  the  islands,  I cut  off  my  queue,  be- 
cause I thought  I could  keep  more 
clean  with  it  off.  There  were  few  Chi- 
nese here  in  those  days  without  queues, 


but  now  most  of  the  younger  men,  and 
many  older  ones,  do  not  wear  them.  My 
father  asked  me  why  I had  done  this, 
but  he  was  not  angry. 

In  188.3,  I went  to  the  Island  of  Maui 
and  worked  as  a yard  boy,  taking  care 
of  a garden  and  earning  six  dollars 
a month.  But  this  was  not,  after  all, 
a wise  way  of  bringing  me  up.  So  one 
day  my  father  thought  that  I must  go 
to  school  and  learn  to  speak  and  write 
English.  But  he  was  poor,  and  his  pro- 
fession did  not  prosper;  besides  he  had  a 
mother  and  sister  in  China  to  support. 

I went  along  in  this  way  until  1885, 
when  I came  to  Honolulu  again. 
Through  the  efforts  of  my  father’s 
friends,  I was  able  to  enter  in  lolani 
School  on  September  14th,  1885,  under 
the  following  agreement  with  Bishop 
Willis:  That  I should  have  to  work  for 
half  of  my  boarding  and  tuition  and  pay 
cash  for  the  other  half  at  the  rate  of 
$125  per  year.  [t.e.,  he  was  to  pay 
$G2.50  in  money.  II.  B.  iZ.]  iMy  work 
was  to  clean  the  bishop’s  study,  assist 


the  cook  in  the  kitchen,  and  to  wait  at 
the  table,  to  clean  up  dishes  and  sweep 
the  dining-room.  This  agreement  was 
not  kept  up,  because  my  father  made  no 
payments  and  I thought  I would  be 
sent  away.  My  father  could  speak  no 
English,  and,  being  unable  to  pay  any 
money.  Bishop  Willis  asked  me  about 
the  trouble.  After  a few  days.  Bishop 
Willis  told  me  that  I was  to  be  allowed 
to  stay;  but  I should  have  to  be  more 
useful  than  I had  been  after  school 
hours. 

I was  now  fourteen  years  old,  and 
realized  how  important  education  was. 
So  I did  my  best  by  working  in  the 
garden,  and  did  everything  that  Bishop 
and  Mrs.  Willis  wanted.  In  the  second 
year.  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Willis  were  so 
kind  to  me  and  looked  upon  me  as  one 
of  their  children  by  giving  me  clothes 
and  taking  care  of  me  when  I was  sick, 
which  I can  say  my  own  father  had  not 
done  for  me. 

I was  confirmed  in  St.  Andrew’s 
Cathedral,  on  Palm  Sunday,  1888,  by 


Bishop  Willis,  and  left  school  and  went 
to  work  in  1889.  I have  been  with  the 
same  firm  ever  since. 

I thank  God  that  through  these  three 
years  of  school  life  I have  obtained  the 
blessings  of  Christ’s  Church  and  the 
teaching  which  laid  the  foundation  of 
my  uplifting  to  better  manhood  in  social 
and  daily  life.  Through  these  years  in 
school,  I have  learned  the  way  to  love 
God  and  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and 
I have  realized  how  good  and  valuable 
religious  schools  are  for  boys  and  girls. 

My  first  experience  of  speaking  be- 
fore a congregation  of  my  own  country- 
men was  in  1899,  when  the  Rev.  Henry 
Herbert  Gowen,  now  of  Seattle,  who 
started  the  work  of  the  Anglican  Church 
among  the  Chinese  in  Honolulu  and  had 
charge  of  it,  asked  me  to  interpret  his 
sermons  into  Chinese,  which  I did  for 
three  years.  Since  then,  I have  been  in 
close  touch  with  Chinese  Church  afiFairs. 
I learned  a great  deal  from  Mr.  Gowen. 
When  he  left  here,  he  handed  me  the 


MR.  YAP  SEE  YOUNG,  MRS.  YOUNG  AND  THEIR  FAMILY 


service  register  book,  which  I have  kept 
until  now,  by  entering  every  service- 
days,  dates,  service,  officiants,  preacher, 
text,  attendance  and  collection. 

I was  married  in  1892  by  Bishop  Wil- 
lis at  St.  Paul’s  Church  (Chinese), 
Makapala  Kohala,  to  Miss  Kong  En  Fa, 
a daughter  of  a pastor  of  the  Congre- 
gational Chinese  Church.  Our  oldest 
boy  is  Joseph  Shui  Ping.  The  second 
child,  a girl,  received  the  name  of  Ruth 
Shui  Ying.  The  third,  a boy,  is  Ben- 
jamin Shui  On.  Then  come  Esther 
Shui  Jin  and  David  Shui  Fo.  The  first 
three  attend  St.  Peter’s  School. 

Some  Questions  and  Answers 

Bishop  Restarick. — Mr.  Yap  See 
Young,  do  you  attribute  your  comfort- 
able and  clean  home  and  the  like  homes 
of  other  Christian  Chinese  in  Honolulu 
to  Christian  training  and  influences,  or 
to  contact  with  white  people? 

Answer. — I attribute  the  condition  of 
our  homes  distinctly  to  Christian  influ- 


ences, and  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
homes  of  which  you  speak  the  wives 
have  been  trained  in  Christian  schools. 
There  are  no  heathen  homes  like  them. 
But  it  is  not  chiefly  in  the  outward  ap- 
pearance that  Christian  influence  is  felt; 
it  is  in  the  spirit  of  the  home.  I was 
one  of  the  first  of  our  young  Chinese 
married  men  to  break  away  from  the 
old  custom,  and  be  seen  walking  with 
my  wife  on  the  street.  I was  accused 
of  imitating  foreigners,  and  of  going 
back  on  the  traditions  of  our  people. 
Now  it  is  a common  sight  to  see  Chinese 
men  with  their  wives  and  families  walk- 
ing to  church  or  elsewhere,  or  taking 
a drive  together  on  a holiday.  The 
Christian  Chinese  women  appreciate 
what  Jesus  Christ  has  done  for  them. 
They  would  not  want  to  go  to  live  in 
China  again  and  return  to  old  cus- 
toms, but  if  I went  back  there  I should 
refuse  to  take  up  those  customs  which 
treat  women  as  slaves  and  inferior 
beings. 

Bishop  Restarick. — This  spirit  toward 


women,  which  I notice  so  often  among 
the  Christian  Chinese  here,  must  affect 
tlie  old  system  of  getting  wives,  such, 
for  instance,  as  not  seeing  them  before 
marriage. 

Answer. — Yes;  the  old  customs  pre- 
vent our  young  men  and  women  from 
knowing  each  other,  and  some  change 
will  have  to  come  about.  I knew  my 
wife  when  she  was  a young  girl.  We 
used  to  write  to  each  other  later  on,  but 
tliere  was  no  reference  in  our  letters  to 
affection  or  marriage.  When  it  came 
to  that,  I conformed  to  custom  and  en- 
gaged an  intermediary  and  paid  her 
father,  or,  as  I considered  it.  made  him  a 
present  in  exchange  for  his  present  to 
me.  Ilut  our  young  Chinese  men  here 
rebel  against  the  system,  and  as  they 
can  meet  socially  the  Hawaiian  girls, 
and  do  not  have  to  pay  their  fathers, 
m.any  marry  Hawaiians,  as  you  know. 


Bishop  Resiarick. — I see  by  the  papers 
that  one  of  the  reform  societies  expects 
to  send  twelve  Honolulu  boys  to  Hong 
Kong  to  be  educated,  because  the  boys 
here  have  progressive  ideas  and  will  com- 
municate these  to  young  men  in  China. 

Answer. — Yes;  it  is  only  what  Dr. 
Pott  said  while  here  about  our  twelve 
boys  at  St.  John’s,  Shanghai.  You  re- 
member he  said  that  they  are  full  of 
energy,  patriotism  and  ideas  of  reform, 
and  that  they  have  a great  influence  over 
other  boys.  These  islands  are  playing 
an  important  part  in  the  awakening  of 
China.  This  makes  schools  here  so  im- 
portant. The  way  the  Cliinese  are 
treated  here  and  the  opportunities  which 
they  have  here  lead  me  to  believe  that 
by  increasing  the  efficiency  of  our  lolani 
School  we  might  get  boys  from  China  to 
come  here  to  be  educated  and  to  get 
Christian  and  progressive  ideas. 


The  Missionary  District  of  Honolulu  was  receiv'ed  by  transfer 
from  the  Church  of  England,  April  ist,  1902.  Its  present  Bishop 
is  the  Right  Rev.  Henry  B.  Restarick,  d.d.,  who  was  consecrated 
July  2d,  1902. 

The  current  appropriation  for  the  support  of  missions  in 
Honolulu  is  $15,500  Some  of  the  congregations  are  wholly,  and 
others  partly,  self-supporting. 

Gifts  for  missions  in  Honolulu  may  be  designated  “For  work 
in  Honolulu,"  and  should  be  sent,  in  common  with  offerings  for 
other  mission  work,  to  Mr.  George  C.  Thomas,  Treasurer,  Church 
IMissions  House,  281  Fourth  Avenue.  New  York.  X.  Y. 

Copies  of  this  leaflet  may  be  obtained  without  cost  from  the 
Corresponding  Secretary.  281  Fourth  Avenue,  X’ew  York,  bv 
asking  for  Leaflet  X"o.  1,003. 


v.  Ed.,  Feb.  U)09,  S.P.,  2M. 


